Barred Owl

Aka: Northern barred owl, striped owl or, more informally, hoot owl
Range: Barred Owls are historically found east of the Rockies, but are now found as close as the Trinity Mountains. As Spotted Owl populations declined in our area, Barred Owls have moved in to replace them.
Habitat: Woodlands, wooded river bottoms, wooded swamps. Favors mostly dense and thick woods with only scattered clearings, especially in low-lying and swampy areas.

 

Chef

Chef was found on the ground as a baby after his tree was cut down. Instead of taking him to a wildlife re-habilitator, people took him in to “help” him themselves. Unfortunately, Chef became imprinted on Humans and is no longer fit to live in the wild.

Chef gets his name from the call of the Barred Owl. The Barred Owl call sounds like “Who-Cooks-For-You—Who-Cooks-For-You-All”, hence the name, Chef.

Interested in the Adopt-An-Anamal program? Click link below. 

Fun Facts

  • If you're out in the woods and hear someone calling who cooks for you, who cooks for you all?, you're actually hearing the distinctive call of the Barred Owl. If you hear what sounds like maniacal laughing afterward, that's usually two Barred Owls performing a courtship duet. Usually.

  • Barred Owls prefer nesting in tree hollows, but they will also use nests abandoned by other animals, from squirrels to Red-tailed Hawks, and nest boxes located in forest habitats.

  • These hefty owls can become incredibly territorial once they establish a nest—and especially when they begin rearing chicks. Barred Owls are known to chase away intruders by aggressively hooting or attacking and striking with their talons.

  • Barred Owls prefer mature forests that have both an abundance of prey and trees with cavities. Barred Owls hunt from a perch, where they sit and wait, scanning and listening for prey, and then silently swoop down when they pinpoint their meal.

  • Barred Owls mate for life, and they usually have a single clutch of two or three white eggs each year. During the incubation period, which lasts somewhere between 28 and 33 days, the female sits on the eggs while the male hunts for food.